US-based Yale University on August 2, 2011 announces that students participating in Amazon Rainforest field research have discovered a naturally-occurring organism that can degrade plastic even in the absence of oxygen, which could offer a solution for buried landfill situations.

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2011/08/02/Organism-that-eats-plastic-identified/UPI-30241312323669/
http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-08-rainforest-yields-degrade-plastic.html


As reported in VNExpress on August 5, 2011, the Finnish government sponsors a two-year project to assist the Aulacese (Vietnamese) people in the Mekong Delta region, donating €161,000 to help local non-government organizations improve community-based responses to climate change.

http://www.thanhniennews.com/2010/Pages/20110805180129.aspx

On August 6, 2011, Jordan's Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature stated that three gazelle species – the Dorcas, the Goitered and the Mountain Gazelle – have not been seen alive for nearly 30 years and may be gone forever, rendered extinct due to hunting and habitat destruction.

http://www.jordantimes.com/index.php?news=40181
http://www.rscn.org.jo/orgsite/RSCN/NewsandEvents/PressReleases/NewsDetails/tabid/186/ItemID
/1456/language/en-US/default.aspx
http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=1093433682&src=RSS